How are people not good with money?

antimatterx · 08-02-2020 1:45pm #1

I was watching the show on RTE "How to be good with money" and it struck me for the first time that some people are absolutely stupid with money.

How can people enjoy just throwing their money away? You spend a lot of time working hard to earn it, and you waste it.

I don't exactly make a lot of money (24, making 32K), but the first thing I do when I get paid is save as much as possible.

rapul · 08-02-2020 1:46pm

Well done

pipelaser · 08-02-2020 1:49pm

Have a thread for you

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057136862/436/#post112478359

antimatterx · 08-02-2020 1:57pm

pipelaser wrote: »

Have a thread for you

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057136862/436/#post112478359

Oh I'm well aware of that thread. It's legendary!

frag420 · 08-02-2020 1:58pm

Maybe some people like to live in the moment, you can’t spend your savings in hell!!

izzyflusky · 08-02-2020 2:08pm

I think it has a lot to do with what they've experienced at home growing up.

My parents would have been VERY frugal, however my in laws or my sister's wouldn't have given money a second thought. This caused tension initially in the relationships but both parties now acknowledge how important it is to budget, save, etc but it took time for the penny to drop.

People only see the 50 euro here or tenner there but not the bigger picture. Also loans! They don't think about how much they'd be paying in total by the end of it, "just" the 200 euro a month it will cost them so why wait and save?

tonycascarino · 08-02-2020 2:12pm

frag420 wrote: »

Maybe some people like to live in the moment, you can’t spend your savings in hell!!

Living in the moment and spending what you have is just temporary satisfaction and will catch up eventually. If one has nothing saved for a rainy day then more fool that person.

KiKi III · 08-02-2020 2:12pm

I save money, but I’m pretty profligate in how I spend. I’m single and I earn enough to live comfortably. I have no interest in saving every penny; I could get knocked down by a bus tomorrow.

More realistically, I’ll probably get a mortgage in the next few years and hopefully eventually go down the LTR/ kids road - when all that happens I won’t have the option to spend money freely, so I might as well enjoy it now.

Rubberchikken · 08-02-2020 2:19pm

I'm not frugal or spendy but I can budget every Euro I have.
There's a line between being sensible and mean and I hope id never cross to the mean side

But learning to deal with money and budgeting should be taught from the earliest age.

Graces7 · 08-02-2020 2:24pm

Because of disability and now a pensioner I have never had much money; we were raised to be very careful with what little we had and I am perfectly happy with what I have now and lack for nothing that matters.

It is training and habit; trimming your sails to match the wind

JohnnyFlash · 08-02-2020 2:30pm

Graces7 wrote: »

Because of disability and now a pensioner I have never had much money; we were raised to be very careful with what little we had and I am perfectly happy with what I have now and lack for nothing that matters.

It is training and habit; trimming your sails to match the wind

Do you not get the state pension?

Immortal Starlight · 08-02-2020 2:35pm

You should always have a rainy day fund. For me money represents freedom. Its good to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

08-02-2020 2:37pm

Graces7 wrote: »

trimming your sails to match the wind

....and not having one's sails three sheets to the wind like many many millenials these days

Arrival · 08-02-2020 2:39pm

Mixture of fatalism, apathy and stupidity really. Anyone can access the internet these days and Google "how to save" and make positive improvements to their spending habits and learn how to save more. Literally all you have to do is keep track of every single purchase or expenditure and you automatically become more conscious of your spending and you feel naturally inclined to spend less then and that helps you start saving. Then bit by bit when your savings build up you see how nice it feels to have a bit of an emergency fund and it can snowball from there.

I've no issue with people blowing their money mindlessly, but the ones who do that and then moan about never having money lose all respect from me. I used to be great at saving, but these days I'm enjoying life much more without budgeting at all while still saving a bit by staying within my means usually. But when the time comes that I need to save aggressively again I know how to do it, everyone should know how to do it but you can bring the horse to the water and all that

Oranage2 · 08-02-2020 2:49pm

Lunches and coffee, I know people who would be on the lower income side spending 10+euro a day on lunch as well as 2-3 coffees
at 3 euro each.

Of course their money and their life but if they brought lunch in and made their own coffee they could save around 90 odd euro a week.

Greyfox · 08-02-2020 2:55pm

tonycascarino wrote: »

Living in the moment and spending what you have is just temporary satisfaction and will catch up eventually. If one has nothing saved for a rainy day then more fool that person.

You don't get it, some people can't afford to save money and also when your use to never saving money it's hard to save, I sadly grew up knowing I could always get a bank loan if I was stuck. life is there to be enjoyed and you need money to enjoy it. When your old your limited with the things you can do for fun.

I see sheep · 08-02-2020 2:58pm

antimatterx wrote: »

I was watching the show on RTE "How to be good with money" and it struck me for the first time that some people are absolutely stupid with money.

How can people enjoy just throwing their money away? You spend a lot of time working hard to earn it, and you waste it.

I don't exactly make a lot of money (24, making 32K), but the first thing I do when I get paid is save as much as possible.

You should be blowing your money on partying at 24, youth is wasted on you!

Greyfox · 08-02-2020 3:03pm

Arrival wrote: »

Literally all you have to do is keep track of every single purchase or expenditure and you automatically become more conscious of your spending and you feel naturally inclined to spend less then and that helps you start saving.

I find this hard but hope to try it again, there's always unexpected things coming up.

Will I Am Not · 08-02-2020 3:03pm

What’s your situation? Married? Kids? Car? Mortgage? Renting? Dublin?
32k is fine for some people, not so fine for others...

NSAman · 08-02-2020 3:04pm

While money is important, it is only a means to an end. If you make it THE most important thing in life, you forget to enjoy life.

Luckily, I have always managed to create it and manage it.

there is nothing as annoying as a “mean” person who counts the pennies, while forgetting to spend to enjoy life. (If you can afford to do so)

izzyflusky · 08-02-2020 3:18pm

Greyfox wrote: »

I find this hard but hope to try it again, there's always unexpected things coming up.

I'd consider myself good with money but apart from saving a set amount once I get paid and trying to be sensible I don't budget or anything.

I downloaded an app for tracking expenditure a couple of weeks ago and it is true that I think twice before I spend just so I don't have to document it. It's painful hahaha

Minime2.5 · 08-02-2020 3:26pm

antimatterx wrote: »

I was watching the show on RTE "How to be good with money" and it struck me for the first time that some people are absolutely stupid with money.

How can people enjoy just throwing their money away? You spend a lot of time working hard to earn it, and you waste it.

I don't exactly make a lot of money (24, making 32K), but the first thing I do when I get paid is save as much as possible.

Out of interest , how much do you save a month and what are your out goings. I am asking because I am one of those people thats crap with money

Mwengwe · 08-02-2020 3:29pm

Hope the savings come in handy some day.

Airyfairy12 · 08-02-2020 4:00pm

Im terrible with money. I try to save as much as I can but I just love buying things, its like an impulse, ill see something I want and I just buy it. Im trying to stop myself now, like I dont bring my card with me everytime I leave the house, im trying to use up all the skincare and makeup that I have before buying more, when I do grocery shopping I dont buy things on impulse now like I used to.
At one stage I was spending from 300 up to 600 euro a week on clothes, food, makeup, skincare, shoes, facials, getting my hair and nails done, going for lunch with friends, it was ridiculous.
I think I was like that because I never had money growing up and my parents were extremely frugal, like we'd cut mold off bread, clothes were from second hand shops or my mother would ask her friends to give her their childrens old clothes that theyd grown out of and I used to get bullied for my clothes.
So when I started earning money I went crazy with it.

My friend is very bad with money, worse than me, but she had a totally diffierent upbringing, she was an only child, her dad owns a business and is a millionaire, he buys vintage cars like their toy dinkies so she had everything growing up. Now she's in her thirties and cant budget at all, she has no concept of money what so ever.

I thin upbringing effects how you deal with money.

ArnoldJRimmer · 08-02-2020 4:40pm

There's a happy medium that a lot of people can't seem to get to. Life is to be enjoyed, therefore go for that night out, buy that item of clothing, go on that holiday. But keep a limit on it. And where there are opportunities to spend less, do that too.And definitely try to contribute to a pension/ savings, no matter how little the amount

I'm far from perfect, but I tend to prepare most of my own meals, and ensure that I use food up before it goes off. But also go out for lunch with mates once a week and have a takeaway at the weekend. take public transport to the pub, but get a taxi home. Wear underwear for two days..... hold on, I've said too much

08-02-2020 5:44pm

tonycascarino wrote: »

Living in the moment and spending what you have is just temporary satisfaction and will catch up eventually. If one has nothing saved for a rainy day then more fool that person.

As opposed to saving, and losing the majority in the banking crash?

I swear many posters here really don't consider the recent past when making sweeping judgments.

I pay my mortgage. I also maintain a very diverse set of investments. Beyond that, I spend everything I make, on whatever I wish. Why? because I did save previously, and got fcked by the banks/government. I have zero faith in saving anymore. So... no, your sensible approach and judgement of others smacks of very limited experience in life.

Ubbquittious · 08-02-2020 6:55pm

Oranage2 wrote: »

Lunches and coffee, I know people who would be on the lower income side spending 10+euro a day on lunch as well as 2-3 coffees
at 3 euro each.

Of course their money and their life but if they brought lunch in and made their own coffee they could save around 90 odd euro a week.

It is crazy how much you could fritter away on that. Used to know someone who would get a take away coffee most days in the morning and carry it into work for 3 quid despite therbeing a machine in work that was quick and free to use.

Used to be a sinner for this kind of thing myself but saving loads now that I live on an island with one shop. When I was living in Dublin I was an absolute fiend for getting a dinner some place on the way home though after a while the novelty wore off and I was still doing it out of habit. Probably not a healthy habit either. Very easy to take the easy option and fritter away a few 100 quid a month on this and nights out.